Carlos Miller is founder and publisher of Photography is Not a Crime, which began as a one-man blog in 2007 to document his trial after he was arrested for photographing police during a journalistic assignment.

He is also the author of The Citizen Journalist’s Photography Handbook, which can be purchased through Amazon.

Texas Deputies Barge into Woman’s Home Without Warrant, Assault Her Before Leaving (Video) (Updated)

August 12, 2015

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Texas deputies barged into a woman’s home without a warrant at 3 a.m. earlier this month, knocking the woman down, piling on top of her and handcuffing her after she demanded them to produce a warrant or leave.

Travis County sheriff’s deputies told Tori Thayer they were looking for her roommate, Carly Christine, whose family had requested a welfare check after not hearing from her.

But Christine had been out partying, Thayer told PINAC.

Nevertheless, the four deputies entering her home in Plugerville treated her as if she was a criminal, telling her they had some type of “reason to believe” she was hiding something, walking into her room with their flashlights.

Then after they piled on top of her, one of them can be heard on video accusing her of biting them, but they ended up leaving after almost 30 minutes without charging her for anything.

Now Thayer has filed a complaint against the deputies and is looking to talk to lawyers in the hopes of filing a lawsuit.

Below is the video she recorded, a combination of two clips, followed by a local news report on the incident.

Also below is a screenshot from a comment made on Fox 7 Austin’s Facebook regarding this story and the legalities of law enforcement entering homes without warrants.

UPDATE: The Travis County Sheriff’s Office provided a statement to Fox 7, saying “any further statement or publication of evidence in the case, on television or social media, before a thorough investigation is completed is inappropriate and interferes with the integrity of the investigation.”

In other words, they want us to stop reporting the story and posting the video to allow them full control of the narrative.

The agency also created a special thread on its FB page to allow us to comment on the video.